Former Margate commissioner wants his bribery convictions tossed

Former Margate Commissioner David McLean isn't giving in without a legal battle.

Convicted of two counts of bribery after a jury trial earlier this year, McLean was back in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday to argue that his convictions should be thrown out.

Jurors found McLean, 51, guilty of using his influence as a commissioner to secure political favors for Lutchman "Chris" Singh, the landlord of the tiki bar that McLean ran in a strip mall on State Road 7. In exchange, Singh gave McLean two cash payments totaling $5,000 in 2012 and 2013, the jury found.

McLean was paid for using his influence to help get construction grants from Margate's Community Redevelopment Agency, a city board that McLean and the rest of the city commissioners also served on, prosecutors said.

On Wednesday, McLean's defense attorney C. Edward McGee Jr. urged U.S. District Judge James Cohn to throw out McLean's convictions for bribery in a program receiving federal funds.

Reprising an argument he made previously in the case, McGee argued that prosecutors failed to prove that the Margate CRA received any benefits from federal tax money, as the law requires.

Prosecutor Neil Karadbil argued that the CRA was an integral part of the city government and that there was clear evidence presented in the trial that the city received several million dollars in federal aid and that the CRA benefited from tens of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funds used to build bus shelters in the district.

The judge said he would issue his decision next week.

McLean faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count, though he would likely receive a lesser punishment. His sentencing is currently scheduled for Dec. 19.